Readers responded, and their stories will be posted here, individually and in coming days, until the 10th anniversary on Sunday.

Nuala Molloy Moran of Fort Lauderdale was the mother of a young son named Morgan when 9/11 happened.

“I was just walking into work at North Ridge Medical Center [since closed] when I heard the devastating news,” Nuala Molloy Moran said. “I could not imagine being at a hospital that was treating victims. The tragedy just hit me.”

Like a lot of kids, her son Morgan was scared to go to school. Three days after the attacks, Moran was inspired to write the poem reproduced below that has since been put to music. She posted it on an AOL message board and said she heard from a nurse at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York.

“She wrote me, saying it was good to hear what people around the country were doing,” Moran said. “A victim’s family member wrote me to say it gave her comfort.”

Moran’s son has since graduated from college. She still works in healthcare, and is also a self-published poet and lyricist.

FOR THE VICTIMS AND THEIR LOVED ONES, IT’S UNITED WE STAND

I’m not just an American, my life was changed today,
I became a soldier, in my own special way.

I couldn’t stop the planes or the terrorists taking our flights,
I wasn’t there to comfort the poor victims’ screams and sights.

I wish I could have called out for the buildings to be cleared, but I wasn’t in New York or Washington to comfort these people when they feared.

And when those brave souls on duty didn’t get home from work,
I didn’t see their families crying, shocked and hurt.

I didn’t go through the rubble, the fire, or smoke to identify-
and didn’t know who was who or why they had to die.

But I’m not just an American, and my life was changed today.
I became a soldier in my own special way.

I put myself in their places but couldn’t imagine the strain.
I prayed for the victim’s souls and for their loved ones pain.

I listened to the tragic details, too numb to really feel,
then went out to give some blood to help the wounded heal.

I woke my son the next morning, only to hear him say,
“Nobody is going to school, Mom, they were scared away.”

I said, “You get up and go now, even if you’re the only one,
we’re not going to show fear, and no, they haven’t won.”

And as I put on my makeup, my clothes, and my working shoes,
a certain pride came over me, one I never knew.

On the way out the door I hung the flag at half mast,
put Red, White and Blue on the car and saw others’ flags that passed.

That certain message of liberty to fellow patriots we send,
symbolizing the freedom we earned and the freedom we will surely defend.

We prayed along with the nation with a request for God to save
this beautiful nation of ours and for bodies not yet in their graves.

Leaving work, emotions set in as I drove home in the rain.
The tears began to fall and I choked them back again.

Then the sun came out forming a rainbow in the sky,
God’s bright promise of hope helped me not to cry.

Later we lit a candle, and we prayed across this great land,
for the victims and their loved ones because it’s united we stand.

You see, we’re not just Americans, our lives were changed today,
we became soldiers in our own special way.

Comments (3 Comments)

A beautiful tribute. Her poem was made into a song called “Soldier” with all music written, performed and produced by Newell Bate and features singer Ashley Franklin. “Soldier” is on the CD by Penny Danger and is on youtube. The song version “Soldier” shows the words being sung from our military troop’s perspective in mind. Obviously, I know these people well. Good to see here.

Thank you to the Sun-Sentinel and staff writer, Linda Trischitta for sharing my poem. My poem title really states what I was feeling the most. It breaks my heart for families and loved ones to have so much pain and suffering. We are hearing of those heroes who went to help at Ground Zero and have impairments now. I can still remember the feeling when everyone came together on the days surrounding 9/11. Our nation as a whole came together to do anything we could to try and help, or relieve suffering. Here’s to the brave who came out of 9/11 to serve our country!
–Nuala Molloy Moran (author of poem)

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About the author

Linda Trischitta reports on breaking news and authors the Crime & Safety Blog for The Sun Sentinel, where since 2007 she has written about cities and the people who live in them. Her work has also appeared in The Times Union [Albany, NY]; PEOPLE Magazine and Reader’s Digest.